History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v2.c46.108

v2.c46.108

Varāha, while Mr. Ganguly surmised that the eastern niche contained a figure of Nṛisiṁha.¹ The same authority notes that the Nāṭamandira of this temple also is a later addition, a fact which places it in the Liṅgarāja group of temple. Inside the Nāṭamandira there is a small pillar surmounted by a figure of Garuḍa.² On each side of the western opening of the compound wall there is a large slab bearing inscriptions. One of these two records is an eulogium composed by a Brāhmaṇa named Vāchaspati upon his friend Bhaṭṭa Bhavadeva, surnamed Bāla-Valabhi-Bhujaṅga, who was the minister of king Harivarman of lower or southern Bengal. This inscription records that Bhavadeva had constructed the temple of Ananta-Vāsudeva and excavated the tank in front of it. Years ago the late Dr. Kielhorn stated that this inscription belongs to the 12th century A. D., but from the fact that the characters of the inscription are not earlier than the Deopara inscription of Vijayasena and that the Varman dynasty was overthrown by the same king, it is impossible to place Harivarman later than the 11th century. Therefore a temple of Ananta Vāsudeva himself cannot be far distant in date from that of the Liṅgarāja. The outline of the Śikhara is not so graceful as that of the Liṅgarāja, though both of them are similar in plan. The contour of the Śikhara loses much in grace on account of the comparative smallness of the base in proportion to the diameter of the Āmalaka. It is probably later in date than the Liṅgarāja but slightly earlier than the Rājā Rāṇī, as judged from the much more stylized form of the chaitya-windows. That on the southern facade possesses a double medallion inside a quarte-foil. Compared with the surface of the Liṅgarāja the ornamentation is still sparse and the human figures are not crude and barbarous like those of the Sun temple at Konarak.